‘No Kings’ movement and what it wants: Inside the message driving Saturday’s nationwide protests

“No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies are set to kick-off in cities nationwide Saturday to declare, “America has No Kings.”

“We’re standing together against the abuses of power, cruelty, and corruption. On October 18, we gather to remind President Trump and his enablers: America has No Kings!” the movement’s website states of the upcoming Saturday protests/ 

Protests declaring America has “no kings” first mobilized back in February on President’s Day to denounce the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency and cuts to the federal government. The “No Kings” movement, however, gained national prominence in June, when Trump held a miliary parade honoring the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, which also fell on his 79th birthday. 

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Washington, Los Angeles, Denver, New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere to protest what they viewed as Trump’s “coronation” day, as well as other administration policies, including its ongoing deportation efforts. 

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Anti-ICE rioters and police face-off in Los Angeles June 14, 2025, when “No Kings” protests were held in the city. (Jamie Vera/Fox News)

“The world saw the power of the people. President Trump’s birthday parade was drowned out by protests in every state and across the globe. His attempt to turn June 14 into a coronation collapsed, and the story became the strength of a movement rising against his authoritarian power grabs,” the “No Kings” website outlines. 

Four months later, “No Kings” protests will be held in cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Hartford, Connecticut, to protest the Trump administration with a heightened focus on speaking out against the administration’s efforts to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. The group states on its website that it anticipates “millions across the country” will “march against authoritarian politics and billionaire takeover.” 

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Protesters carry a banner representing the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution in downtown Los Angeles during an anti-Trump “No Kings Day” demonstration in a city that has been the focus of protests against Trump’s immigration raids June 14, 2025.  (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

“President Trump has doubled down. His administration is sending masked agents into our streets, terrorizing our communities,” the “No Kings” website states. “They are targeting immigrant families, profiling, arresting and detaining people without warrants. Threatening to overtake elections. Gutting healthcare, environmental protections, and education when families need them most. Rigging maps to silence voters. Ignoring mass shootings at our schools and in our communities. Driving up the cost of living while handing out massive giveaways to billionaire allies, as families struggle.”

The protests are organized by left-wing groups such as Indivisible, a grassroots progressive organization behind anti-Trump protests stretching back to the 2016 election, as well as other groups such as the American Federation of Teachers, ACLU, Greenpeace, the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, National Nurses United, Public Citizen and Service Employees International Union, according to its website. 

Protesters march during a “No Kings” rally in Washington, June 14, 2025. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News Digital)

The group repeatedly calls on participants to peacefully protest on its website. Los Angeles’ “No Kings” protests in June did devolve into chaos, as “agitators who came here with the purpose of creating chaos” attacked police officers, the Los Angeles County sheriff told local media at the time. 

The Saturday protests are expected to focus on Trump’s immigration policies, including Trump’s alleged “authoritarian takeovers of cities—deploying federal forces, seizing local police departments, and funding mass detention and deportation operations,” as well as the movement’s ongoing claims that Trump is conducting himself more like a monarch than a president. 

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“President Trump has openly said he wants a third term and is already acting like a monarch—seizing control of D.C., threatening other cities, and using federal forces against his own people. But the American people don’t bow to kings. Together, we will peacefully mobilize, yet again, in huge numbers to reject this corruption and abuse of power—it’s in our DNA as a country,” the group’s website states. 

Fox News Digital reached out to organizers of the movement for additional comment on the upcoming demonstrations but did not immediately receive a reply on Thursday. 

“Who cares?” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital when asked about the upcoming protests on Saturday.

“No Kings” protests against the Trump administration are expected to be held in cities nationwide on Oct. 18.  (Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images)

The Trump administration has been on an immigration blitz since Trump was sworn back into office on Jan. 20, as federal law enforcement officials such as ICE agents converged on cities in targeted efforts to remove illegal immigrants. Trump has simultaneously targeted individual U.S. cities for overall crime clean-ups, including federalizing the Washington, D.C., police force in August, including ordering the National Guard to the city, with Los Angeles, Memphis and Portland facing similar crime reduction efforts. Trump’s attempt to roll out crime clean up initiatives in Portland and Los Angeles, however, are tied up in the courts.  

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Trump’s 2024 campaign included a large focus on ending the illegal immigration crisis in the U.S. and bringing down crime, with voters frequently pointing to the issues as among their top concerns heading to the ballot boxes.

Miguel Hurtado marches with others who gathered near the Mar-a-Lago home of President Donald Trump during a “No Kings Day” protest June 14, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“Whether you’re outraged by attacks on civil rights, skyrocketing costs, abductions and disappearances, the gutting of essential services, or the assault on free speech, this moment is for you. Whether you’ve been in the fight for years or you’re just fed up and ready to take action, this moment is for you,” the “No Kings” website states of its objectives for Oct. 18. 

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The protests follow Trump and his administration securing a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, which included the president traveling to Israel and Egypt earlier in October to speak with world leaders directly, and as Trump holds talks Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday and a meeting with Ukraine President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy Friday at the White House as part as a separate war between those nations continues raging since 2022.